Thursday, January 30, 2014

My life (and art) are on hold for awhile. The stomach bug that plagued me yesterday is back, and in full force.

I had a terrible sleep last night, and all day today I kept falling asleep at the breakfast table. I was going to get washed and dressed, and try to paint, but Yuula talked me out of that. She suggest that I go back to bed. She laughed at me when I looked excited and said, "Yeah, maybe I'll take my iPad with me and do some work while I was laying down. She said that I should just nap and try to get better.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

I woke up at 9am with Hershey beside me. It's a wonderful way to start a day.

I stayed up until 2am painting. I really wanted to finish this picture, but the paint ran out before my energy levels did ... and then, they were soon depleted as well.

It's my intention to finish this painting today. I think it would be nice for my customers at St. Lawrence Market to see a new painting that has a cute cat and green grass. Everyone (including me!) seems to be fed up with the frigid, bleak days of winter.

Bleah ....

Before I can go back to work on this picture, though, I need to write out cheques for my employees and start working on updating their work schedules for the current pay period. I also need to fill out insurance forms; update my own personal finances, go out and buy groceries; plus, reply to a ton of emails.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

I also Instagramed a couple pictures of Hershey, just for the fun of it.

Creepy Hershey just texted Motria, "mmmnnnnn nanny."

Puss & Boots

Yes, I know, I'm obsessed with my cats. But they're so cute and do such clever and funny things! Like today, I was using my iPad to text my friend Motria when Hershey suddenly walked across the keyboard on the screen. By doing this, he typed out: "mmmnnnnn nanny." I wonder if Hershey has a thing for nannies, or maybe he thinks that Motria was/is his nanny. Perhaps he considers all of my friends/employees his nannies, or his personal staff if you will.

Yes, I know Hershey doesn't really know what he's typing, but I do think I got his idea of having a "personal staff" right. After all, he is a cat!

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Don't get me wrong, I love my regular customers - I really do! I think it's very nice of them to give me gifts on a regular/semi-regular basis. Flowers - yes! They're beautiful and they cheer me up if I'm having a bad day. Chocolates - a definite Anne pleaser every time!

Today, one man gave me a huge hunk of bread and told me to pour olive oil over it, add cheese and tomatoes, and then bake it. It will make delicious bruschetta, he said. Another man gave me a bag of croiisants.

Both gifts were very kind and thoughtful, and it touched me that these people held me with such high regard as to bring me these treats. And yet, because I had only made $15.00 today, I thought perhaps some cosmic joke was being played upon me - especiallyy because of the gift of a huge loaf! I wanted money and got "bread" which is made from "dough".

Very funny, whoever you are, very funny indeed! Hopefully, I'll get more of the other type of bread next week!

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Anne K Abbott is Catching Fire! Or, more aptly put, Anne K Abbott is ON Fire! Not literally, of course - although ... hmm .... maybe if I attached two large torches to my wheelchair I'd be able to deal with this bloody frigid winter. Brrrrrrrrrrr!

I've been so busy lately, both having fun and getting things done. Saturday I worked all day and then went to Mick E Finns with friends for drinks and munchies.

Sunday I met Bruce and the kids at Aunt Joyce's place for the afternoon/early evening. (I slipped away for a short while and got a few more things from Mom's place, one of which was the painting by Great Uncle Charlie.)

When I got home, I grabbed a quick bite and then dashed back out to meet friends and go see Hunger Games: Catching Fire. (Thus, the title of this post.) After that, at 11pm, Kelly and I went to Starbucks, and I had a peppermint mocha frappuccino.

Today, I updated my finances, knocked off several emails with the speed of lightning, played some of my much neglected games of Scrabble on my iPad, and edited some pictures of my art for cards and other merch.

I was going to the OCAP meeting tonight, but it's too bloody cold! I was just itching to get back to painting, too, but I just received two emails that need to be answered ASAP!

Saturday, January 18, 2014

It's the usual market day morning. The same woman opened the door for me, smiling and saying, "Hi, Anne! Have a good day!" Inside, I listen to Renee, the woman who sells handmade hats, complain about how coming in at 5am is killing her and that the market management has said they're going to raise the rent 50% next year. I commiserate with her and point to "Bastards!" on my communication board.

As Amy sets up my artwork and merch upon my table, a violinist and accordion player play cheerful and upbeat music. As market musicians go, they're not bad. At least I don't want to scream and tear out my hair yet.

It's the same routine with very little variance. My mind keeps drifting back to the two dreams I had about Rob last night. In the first dream, I was annoyed with him that he had piled his stuff (hard drives, DVDs, CDs, etc) way up to the ceiling in the living room. And, Rob, in turn, was annoyed with me because our closet was overflowing with my clothes. So, we compromised and agreed that we both needed to get rid of some stuff.

In the second dream, Rob wanted to go out but I didn't because I had a lot of work to do. Of course, I gave in, as I almost always did because I loved making him happy.

And then, we were both in this empty room, sitting beside each other, kissing. And yet, it was quite apparent that we were angled and moved in such a way that we wouldn't aggravate each other's aches and pains.

When I woke up, I kept hearing Meatloaf singing I Would Do Anything for Love over and over in my head.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

My friends, family, a lot of my regular customers at the market, and people who faithfully read my blog know how much I love cats.

It goes beyond their furry cuteness, although that's a big part of it. It even goes beyond the way they snuggle up to you and purr, as if your touch was the best thing that they've ever felt

I love how cats take care of themselves. If they're hungry they eat, if they're tired they sleep, and, if they're feeling playful they chase around toy mice or strings.

I admire this about cats. And, today, as I felt the pain that has been my constant companion for almost three months, I decided not to get into my wheelchair today but, instead, work from my commode chair. (The mere 10 second action of transferring onto/off of my wheelchair causes me terrible shooting pain!)

I also went on my friend Lamia's website and booked an acupuncture appointment. I could see that there was only one available day in January: Saturday the 25th. I scanned for any time available in the late afternoon, not wanting to miss a day at the market. There was nothing, though, only spaces in the early to mid afternoon.

I gritted my teeth, sighed, and resigned myself to staying home that day, losing sales, but recieving a much needed treatment of acupuncture. Be a cat, I thought, take care of yourself! Health is worth much more than mere money.

Tomorrow, if my pain is less, I might start a painting. (I've been dying to paint for ages!)

Or, I might just bat around a toy mouse for awhile .... Hershey and Rascal make it look like so much fun!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

What a day! It was one of those Nothing is Going Right Days. Nothing terrible happened, you know, just annoying ... and a bit funny.Because it was my day to go to counselling, I tried to eat; wash; get dressed as fast as possible and get out. Even after all my rushing around I was still five minutes late, but it didn't matter because apparently my counsellor hadn't penned my appointment into her book. When the receptionist called her out to speak to me, her eyes widened in surprise and she became very apologetic. I smiled and assured her it was ok, I'd come back next week, if it was ok with her. (It was.)Of course, I was disappointed not being able to air out my feelings (and I sure had a lot to get out), but I mentally shrugged and carried on.I'll get cat food at the vets, I thought, and if we have time grab a peppermint mocha frappuccino at Starbucks. Dobrila was with me today and she had told me before we went out that she didn't think it was that cold outside because when she looked out my bedroom window she kept seeing old ladies without hats or gloves on. I don't think it was a reliable forcast because my journey from the cousellors to the vets made my hand red and raw from the cold. The vets building isn't very easy for me to get into with my wheelchair so I told Dobrila maybe you could get the catfood and meet me at Starbucks. She said sure, no problem!

On our way to get cat food, we had passed a Starbucks on Church St. and I automatically thought Dobrilla would know that was the one I meant. Unfortunately not! I went in and, quite proud of myself, ordered my drink using my communication board. (People from Carlton Restaurant should take lessons from people at Starbucks!) I sat at a table wih my drink for maybe thirty minutes waiting for Dobrila to show up. She never did! Fortunately, as luck would have it, I met a man I hadn`t seen in years who used to serve my mom and cousin and I coffee at Timothy`s. I asked him to please put my drink in my bag, thanked him and drove home. Dobrila was waiting for me at the elevator worried out of her mind! Apparently, she had gone to two other Starbucks, and had even asked the staff if they knew of any other Starbucks in the neighbourhood. Nobody mentioned the location on Church St!

I was home and warm, so I was in a very good mood, and both Dobrila and I laughed about the mix up. Plus, I had two peppermint mocha frappuccinos because Dobrila had also bought me one!So, I guess something did go right after all!

Monday, January 13, 2014

Today was a fun day. Sarah and I went to Starbucks for a mid-afternoon snack, where we snickered at the bad covers of mediocre Beatle songs that played during our stay.

We then went to Sobey's to buy milk and cheese. I asked Sarah to take a picture of these mugs at the checkout counter:

I thought how funny it was that they were advertised as "Cool Great Mugs" because on one section of my communication board I have the words Cool! Great! Fantastic! When I get extremely excited about something, I point to these three words in quick succession, and add tthe word Brilliant! to really drive home my thought. In my imagination, I could see someone from Sobey's following me around, trying to see what unique words I use in my daily routine to impress the world. Not very good spies, however, they glimpsed (and stole!) only two words: cool and great.

After Sobey's, Sarah and I met Leon at the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.

Dinner was delicious, atmosphere was fun, and, the music was definitely better than that of Starbuck's! I was kind of disappointed, though, when I requested songs by Frank Zappa and all they had was Valley Girl by Moon Unit Zappa. Shameful! One of the musical geniuses of our time, and they don't have any of his songs!

I'll still probably go again. Maybe if I keep going and keep bugging them to get more (any!) Frank Zappa songs they will! It would only improve the atmosphere to hear Muffin Man and Baby Snakes playing in the background, don't you think?

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Despite the chronic pain I've been having for over two months now and the nausea that sometimes goes along with taking pain meds, I've had a good day's work. I answered emails, uploaded my employees' payroll to my bookkeeper, and finished updating my finances.

I also edited pictures of my newest giclees so I can sell them on Etsy.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

For a rainy January day, I did amazingly well at the market today! I made over $100.00 - and a lot of new customers seemed to be interested in me and my art.

But I was so tired today that I kept dozing off periodically. You see, I only had four hours of sleep. Also, dull, rainy weather almost always makes me feel weary. Despite my weariness, I was in an unusually good mood, probably because my groin wasn't hurting as much as it had; the weather, although drizzily, was surprisingly mild; and, I felt exceptionally pretty in my gold dress.

Now, back home, I've had dinner; put on my nightie; chilled out with my sweet cats.

It's back to work for me before I go to bed, though. Answer emails, finish my employees' payroll, and update my finances. Wellllllllllllllllll ... maybe I'll do some of it now, and go to bed.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

I've been feeling a lot better today, and, because I'm full of energy, I've also getting things done. I contacted my friend Lamia about getting a shiatzu/accupuncture treatment (my groin, sadly, is still killing me); I rescheduled a dentist appointnent for early spring; and, I got in touch with an insurance broker about getting my business insured.

I was feeling really good about getting things resolved. I love being organized!

And then, with one email, everything seemed to fall apart. No, I'm sounding too dramatic ... but (and I won't bore you with the detaiils) the email I got had to do something to do with my mother's estate. (No, it's not settled yet, even after sixteen months!) I just got demoralized! I've recieved other emails this week on this subject, and I feel like I'm on this crazy merry-go-round. Not to mention the fact that every time I write an email about my mother's estate it's like a dagger through my heart because it makes me face up to the fact that she will never come back.

But I will survive...

You're going to hear me roar...

Ain't nothing gonna keep me down...

So what, I'm still a rock star!

Yeah, you guessed it, I've been listening to my playlist again! It's the only thing that keeps me sane... well, friends and cats who let me cry on their shoulders.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

On the Yuckiness Scale, I feel as if I am a six out of ten. Not bad but could be better ....

I've written emails, worked on my employees' schedule, and napped for a couple of hours.

Now, I'm going to drink red wine with Dobrila and watch Zen on my BBC app. I'm going to try to go to bed fairly early so I can be one (or maybe zero!) on the Scale of Yuckiness, and, hopfully, look as good as this by Saturday:

I was supposed to have dinner with Leon at the Hard Rock Cafe this evening, but when I went out this afternoon to see the doctor, and then to Starbucks and Loblaws, I knew that I just couldn't handle a fifteen minute jaunt over to the restaurant in such bitterly cold weather.

Sorry, Leon!

Instead, I stayed home, ate steak (Rob loved steak), toasted to his memory and to our life together with Scotch (he loved Scotch too), and listened to all of his favourite music on YouTube. J Geils Band, Kim Mitchell, Rush, Frank Zappa, Alice Cooper, ACDC, Max Webster - I can see Rob grinning, grooving out to the music, drumming to the beat.

We met twenty-six years ago, and we got married eighteen years ago. It seems so surreal that so many years have passed and that you've been gone from me for over four years. How is that possible? Didn't I just see you yesterday, Sweety?

One thing that isn't surreal or mysterious, and that is my love for you. My love will remain constant and unshaken.